In February, Questeq’s Jessica Main and The Challenge Program distributed financial awards to underclassmen at the Beaver County Career and Technology Center. Questeq was a partner of The Challenge Program at BCCTC during the 2016-17 school year.

Wilmington Area School District has transformed into a regional leader in Educational Technology and is a pinnacle example of how Questeq can transform K-12 schools from tactical to strategic.

Just over two years ago, Wilmington partnered with Questeq with the hope of revitalizing their technology and every aspect of it. The District had major issues at every level. As Wilmington’s new Technology Manager, I believe that if “school choice” is going to be a thing, then Wilmington will be the best choice. Over the past two years, Aaron McConahy, Infrastructure Engineer, and myself have worked hard to make that happen.

The District is now 1:1 K-12 with a solid infrastructure. Everything has changed for the better, and it all started with a change of culture. We’ve turned the Tech Department into a Department of “Yes!” where we do everything possible to meet the needs of our faculty and staff. No matter how small or insignificant the request might seem to us, it may mean the world to a teacher. So, we exhaust every effort to say “yes” instead of defaulting to “no.” When the default response of technology staff is “no,” faith in the Tech Department will diminish so far that most teachers won’t bother to ask for help. With a positive change in culture, the whole district has regained trust in their Tech Department, and teachers are eager to learn and try new technologies.

Recently, Wilmington has fully immersed itself in everything Google. We are 1:1 with Chromebooks 5-12, and are using G Suite for Education extensively. The usage of Google Classroom, for example, is a requirement of all middle and high school teachers. Several teachers are now Google Certified Educators, and many more have expressed interest. Wilmington’s usage of Google products and services has spiked so high that even Google took notice. In July, we were selected as a Google Reference District.

Google Reference Districts are distinguished schools that utilize everything Google and are intended to show other districts what Google can do for education. Becoming a Google Reference District can only start with an invitation and involves a detailed application process. There are less than 200 districts in the world with this distinction. Needless to say, everyone at WASD is very proud!

Questeq’s impact at Wilmington has been positively remarkable. In just two years, Wilmington has changed its entire culture and is now a leader among leaders. We’ve shown that enrollment numbers don’t matter. Any district can accomplish the same feats regardless of size. All it takes is a Technology Department with motivation, perseverance, and a heap of gumption.

– Matthew E. Maine, Technology Manager

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Crawford Central School District has agreed to extend their existing ETM partnership with Questeq by signing a new five-year agreement. The newly signed agreement includes adding two full time Technology Specialists to the existing onsite technology department. Questeq’s onsite technology team has been instrumental in the recently approved one-to-one program. The program will begin by providing devices to students in grades seven and eight during the 2017-2018 school year. The rest of the secondary students are set to receive devices the following year. In preparation for the one-to-one program, the district has been making significant investments in networking technology, cloud storage and application virtualization. Crawford Central has also recognized the need to enhance data security, by implementing Dell DDPE (Dell Data Protection & Encryption), as well as Microsoft EMS (Enterprise Mobility Suite) for their laptop and email solutions.

The district serves approximately 3,800 students in Crawford County, located in northwestern Pennsylvania. Questeq has provided ETM services to Crawford Central since 2013. When powered by Questeq’s Educational Technology Management (ETM) service, schools experience a positive cultural change towards digital transformation.

The agreement was celebrated by the Crawford Central technology team along with CEO, Jeff Main and COO, Jason King, during an all-team meetup in July.

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Two PA Schools to Begin Questeq Educational Technology Management Service (ETM) in July 2017

Two Bradford County, PA school districts, Sayre Area School District and Wyalusing Area School District, will begin three-year ETM contracts with Questeq in July 2017, beginning a partnership for the successful long-term management of each school’s technology program.

In July, the three-year plan in both districts will begin with right-sizing the technology department staff, enhancements to technical competencies, improvements in administrative and instructional application management, data integration, support and classroom innovation. But, while there are similarities in the two districts in plan start-up, district location and number of students, each of the solutions is customized to match the goals set by the leaders in the individual districts.

Questeq seeks to improve a school’s strategic use of technology, as it does now in over 30 PA schools. The company accomplishes this by becoming an integral part of each school’s culture, and then empowering each district to advance its use of technology.

Sayre Area School District is located in Bradford County and is very near the New York State line. The district spans a geographic area of 58 square miles and has an enrollment of approximately 1,070 students in grades K-12.

Wyalusing Area School District is also located in Bradford County and is a short drive south of Sayre Area SD. The district spans a geographic area of 273 square miles and has an enrollment of appropriately 1,300 students in grades K-12.

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Questeq Technology Director, Dave Charles has been selected as a finalist for the 2017 Pittsburgh CIO of the Year Awards. As the Technology Director at North Hills, Dave is responsible for strategic IT planning and ultimate IT oversite, as well as the overall management of Questeq’s onsite technology staff. North Hills has been a valued Questeq partner since 2011.

Each year, the Pittsburgh Technology Council and Greater Pittsburgh CIO Group honors the region’s top information technology and information security executives at Pittsburgh CIO of the Year. The 2017 awards will be held on Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at the Westin Convention Center Hotel. You can learn more about the event here.

We congratulate Dave on this wonderful accomplishment, which is well deserved. Members of the Questeq leadership team will be at the event to celebrate this honor with him. Congratulations and good luck!